[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 138 (Thursday, September 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SENATOR BRYAN'S WORK ON THE ETHICS COMMITTEE

  Mr. REID. The first criminal jury trial that I had involved a 
burglary case. As I recall, the jury trial took about 3 or 4 days. The 
reason I remember the case so clearly is that I was the attorney 
representing the defendant, the person charged with the crime. The 
prosecutor of that case was Richard Bryan, then a young deputy district 
attorney in Clark County, NV. It was a good case. We had two young 
lawyers who had a real good battle in the courtroom.
  Senator Richard Bryan was an outstanding lawyer. He was the first 
public defender in the history of the State of Nevada. He and I took 
the Nevada bar together in 1963. We were the only two freshmen elected 
to the Nevada State Legislature in 1969.
  Not only did he have a successful and distinguished career as a 
private attorney, but he also served in the Nevada State Legislature as 
an assemblyman and as a Nevada State senator. He served as attorney 
general of the State of Nevada. He was elected twice to be Governor of 
the State of Nevada and has been elected twice to be a U.S. Senator 
from the State of Nevada.
  The reason I mention this is I think, in the events that have taken 
place today, those six members of the Ethics Committee who have toiled 
months and months have been kind of forgotten about. This was a job not 
sought by Senator Richard Bryan, who was chairman of the Ethics 
Committee. In fact, he took the job at his peril. He was running for 
reelection when then majority leader George Mitchell asked him to do 
his duty as a U.S. Senator and accept this task, this ordeal, to be 
chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.
  I have never talked to Senator Bryan about the facts of the case that 
has been before this body today. But I know Richard Bryan. I know him 
well. He and I have been friends for 30-odd years or more. And I know 
how this case has weighed on him. I see it in his face. I see it in his 
demeanor. As I have indicated, I have never discussed the case with 
him. But I know Senator Bryan well, I repeat. I know that his 
obligation was to be fair to the victims, to be fair to the accused and 
to this institution and, of course, the oath that he took as a Senator.
  The time that he spent on this case could have been spent working on 
other issues, could have been spent with his family and his friends, 
but he spent not minutes, not hours, not days, not weeks but months on 
this case.
  When the elections took place last fall, Senator Bryan became the 
ranking member of the Ethics Committee, and Senator Mitch McConnell 
became chairman of the Ethics Committee.
  Mr. President, I think that we, as Members of the Senate, should all 
acknowledge the work done by the Ethics Committee. I am speaking of my 
friend, Senator Bryan. I am doing that because I know him so well. I 
know the time that he spent. I know his background. I know what a good 
person he is and how fair he tries to be with everybody in everything 
that he does.
  Now, I can speak with more authority and certainty about Senator 
Bryan than I can the other five members of the Ethics Committee, but 
these other five individuals coming from their varied backgrounds and 
experiences led to this Ethics Committee that had a sense of duty. It 
was bipartisan in nature, and being bipartisan in nature reached a 
conclusion in this most difficult case. Senators Mikulski and Dorgan on 
the Democratic side and Chairman McConnell, Senators Craig and Smith 
are also to be given appreciation by this Senator and I hope the rest 
of this body for the time that they spent on this very thankless job.
  Mr. President, I, of course, have talked in detail about Senator 
Bryan and the person that he is. If I knew the other five members as 
well as I knew Senator Bryan, I am sure that I could say the same 
things about them and the difficulty they had in arriving at the 
decision they did. I am sure that if I had spent the time with them as 
I have with Senator Bryan, I could tell by their demeanor, I could tell 
by the looks on their faces the consternation and the difficulty they 
had in doing the work that they did on this case.
  Mr. President, there is no way to compliment and applaud these 
gentlemen and the lady who serve on this committee in an adequate 
fashion, but I, I hope on behalf of the entire Senate and the people of 
this country, express to them my appreciation and our appreciation for 
doing what they did in this case, that is, working the long, hard, 
tireless hours they did and arriving at a decision that only they could 
arrive at.
  Mr. President, in 1882, a member of the very small Nevada Supreme 
Court--there were three members of the supreme court in 1882--in a case 
cited at 106 U.S. 154, Justice Bradley said in that case these words 
that I think apply to what has taken place here today: ``The event is 
always a great teacher.''
  Mr. President, the event that has taken place today has been a great 
teacher for us all and will be in the future.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  

                          ____________________